First off, my get-a-way to Montana was one of the most amazing and gratifying things of my life. It was beyond beautiful and idyllic. The sights never seemed real…. Like I was watching a movie in the first person and seeeing things that are only found in CGI technology. But, it was all very real and astonishing. I highly recommend going to extreme NW Montana and visiting Whitefish and then a short drive up into Glacier National Park. You’ll NEVER forget it.
The picture above is in Whitefish and is Whitefish Lake, on the city beach. I thought this was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen until 2 days later when we drove into Glacier National Park.
Above is me at a small brewery in Whitefish. Bonsai Brewing Project was built into a small house on a corner in a residential area on the edge of commercial properties. I wish I’d taken pics of the whole place. It was such a cool place with a chill vibe. This would definitely be one of my hangouts if I ever live there.
Bonsai Brewing Project website
I’m sitting at a table in the side/back yard of this “house” watching little kids run around, having fun and climbing the trees you see behind me and some boulders that were set there for places to sit, or climb for that matter. My wife, mother-in-law, Max and I were sitting and watching this little girl who looked exactly like Sally, from the old Dick & Jane readers. Same pink dress, same short, blonde curls, everything. Like I said, the whole place seemed idyllic and like a dream.
Click here for a link to pics of the Dick & Jane books with little blonde Sally
On the back of the house was a small porch they turned into the grilling area. Some amazing food was being prepared there, as I could almost taste the incredible smells coming from there. Near there, the backdoor that leads into the bar area. It’s looks a like a nice bar with lots of wood and plenty of seating at the bar, then several high tables and the hanging boards with the featured brews.
I chose the new black barleywine, Debauchery. The beer server said it was brand new and just hit the tap 2 days before. Then warned me that the ABV was pretty high at 8.5%. I kinda laughed and said, “Really? That’s not high. I’m used to “big boy” beers with ABV’s of 10% or higher!” He chuckled and said, “Ah! OK, you’re not new to this…” No, sir, I am not.
It’s a black barleywine, which is kinda rare. Not many that are dark. It was aged in bourbon barrels, so it pulls the leftover alcohol from the wood (“The Devil’s Cut” or “Angel’s Share” is what it’s known as, depending on what you think sounds cooler). That will flavor and raise the alcohol content in the beer and how much can depend on how long it’s aged in that barrel.
Look at the lacing on that glass! Now, a barleywine will not have the same mouthfeel as a beer, even though it’s in the ale category. This is a little thicker. Thicker than wine but thinner than, say, apple juice. Very light carbonation, yet enough to produce a small but thick head and beautiful lacing, as you can see.
Debauchery was very complex and tasty. Very smooth and prettty boozy, but not enough to scare you away. I wish I’d taken notes on it as I was enjoying it, but I had other things on my mind. My best friend, Tim, died that day, 3 years ago. I knew it that morning and was just trying to not think about it, so I could enjoy the day.
It was at this point I had the feeling that Tim probably steered me to this place.
I’l explain.
The vibe of this place was very chill. Kind of hippie, like homebrewers who also garden and maybe sew their own clothes from leftover flour bags and shared everything with all the “far out” and “groovy”people who happend to stop by…
Tim, was one of those very hippie, chill, far-out and groovy dudes, so I immediately thought of him while I was sitting at the table, looking around the yard, the house, the parents and their littles running around having a ball.
Now – Here’s where I may lose some of you and excite some others, depending on what your personal beliefs are, regading death and what happens after we leave our bodies.
I saw this place on google maps the day we arrived and thought I may like to check this place out, since it was a craft brewery and pub. Then, pretty much forgot about, as the weekend was busy with wedding stuff and wanting to explore more of the area. Sunday, after much of the wedding party and guests are heading to wherever they came from, we all decided to take a drive around Whitefish and Kalispel to see what there was to see. With GPS, it’s fun to just start driving and trying to get lost, seeing the sights. I took many different turns, saw some gorgeous lakes with crystal clear water, killer golf courses, the mountains surrounding the whole area…
I took a road that was very off any main road and followed it into rural Whitefish. Beautiful ranches, hay farms, horses and more… Eventually we came down a road that seemed to take us back into town. As I was coming to a stop sign, my mother-in-law sees and mentions a brewery on the left. That was Bonsai and I said that I had seen that place on gooogle maps. She asked if I wanted to go, and I thought for just a couple seconds, eventually declining because I was the only one in the car interested in craft beer and breweries and felt it would only be fun for me. So we kept on driving past and eventually getting lost again in the picturesque rural countyrside of Whitefish, Montana. I noticed I was familiar with this one road we were on and knew it turned into a dead end so I followed the same path that had brought us back into town before, not thinking of anything else.
We then come up on Bonsai again so I said, “OK! I wanna check it out now!” and we pulled in to the parking lot. My wife, Max and mother-in-law all said what a cool, chill place this was and enjoyed sitting outside watching the littles, seeing the mountains off in the distance, behind the silhouette of the brewery as I went in to choose a beer. After getting a glass of Debauchery from the barkeep, nice guy who was helpful and informative, I went back outside and sat with my family. It was then when I started to think and said out loud to the others, “Yeah… Tim wanted me to check this place out. He directed us back here after we went by before. I didn’t even realize we were on the same road that came past this brewery! He definitley wanted me to see this place. It reminds me of a place he would love.” My family smiled and agreed that that probably was the case.
I finished my barlewine and brought it back inside to the bar and asked how much for a glass to take home. While the barkeep and a woman who was also working there and helping behind the bar, were getting and packing up the glass for taking back to Iowa, I had told them that I had a friend who passed, 3 years ago on that day, and that he would have loved this place. “He was a cool, chill, hippie vibe kinda guy who loved everyone, loved jam bands like Phish and Grateful Dead and was in theater like I was in high school, but stayed with it until the day he died. I’m sure he knew I would see that in this place.”
Both the woman and the guy stopped doing what they were doing at the same time, went a little ashen and wide-eyed. The the guy started pointing at his shirt THAT I HADN’T EVEN NOTICED WHILE TALKING TO HIM, TWICE NOW…..
He was pointing at his Grateful Dead shirt.
I yelled, “OH MY GOD!!” and slammed my hand down on the bar as goosebumps popped up all over my arms and theirs too! “That’s IT! He DID bring me here!”
“I thought you had noticed my shirt but when I realized you hadn’t, I got chills and went “Whoa!”” The woman said the same thing and said that this was the coolest thing they had ever experienced and agreed, TOTALLY, that my friend Tim, directed me back to the brewery.
When I went back to the table to my family, I told them what had just happened inside and they all got wide-eyed and giggled and agreed….
Thanks for making my Montana trip THAT much more memorable, Tim. I miss you, man.
Thanks to Cassidy Cook for permission to use this photo.
